I'm Zolu!
by pingo1387
Summary: Zoro and Luffy take "becoming one" rather literally when they dance together one day. Based on gem fusions. Established ZoLu, oneshot, pre-timeskip.


**This is based on the gem fusions from Steven Universe (specifically episode 37 "Alone Together"), which in turn are based on Dragon Ball Z/GT.**

* * *

"Come on . . ."

Zoro's eyes twitched. "No."

Luffy leaned over his boyfriend, who was still flat on his back in the grass. Moments before, they'd been lying together peacefully in the empty cliff-top field, the Sunny anchored below them. But then Luffy had sat up and inexplicably announced his desire to dance with Zoro.

"Please?"

Zoro hesitantly opened his eyes again to stare into Luffy's pleading eyes. He sighed. "Luffy, I've never danced before."

"First time for everything."

"Come on," Zoro muttered, turning his head away. Luffy leaned farther over to continue staring at Zoro pleadingly.

And, as usual, he got his way.

"Fine," Zoro snapped, sitting up and standing. Luffy jumped up and pumped his fists in the air with celebration.

"I don't even know how," Zoro sighed. "And don't you need music to dance?"

Luffy thought for a moment, snapped his fingers, and ran to the edge of the cliff. Leaning over to spy the Sunny, he yelled, "BROOK! CAN WE GET SOME MUSIC?!"

A minute later the delightful sounds of _Binks' Brew_ floated up their way. Luffy turned back to Zoro and grinned triumphantly. Zoro rolled his eyes but could not help grinning back.

"Okay, just move your body with the music," Luffy instructed, following his own directions. He moved his arms in wavy motions only possible with his rubber body and spun in a few circles. "Come on!"

Zoro hesitantly tapped his foot in time with the music, gradually picking up energy. He tucked in his elbows and moved his shoulders in a seesaw motion.

Luffy grinned. "You got it! Keep moving!"

Zoro spun in a few circles with Luffy, who laughed in delight. At the second chorus of the song, Luffy suddenly grabbed Zoro's hands in his own. Zoro was startled for a moment, but quickly went with the flow and let Luffy pull him along. Luffy spun them around in circles for a bit, and the dance became more and more energized and synchronized.

"Whoa—"

Zoro's foot caught on Luffy's and he almost went down, but Luffy reached out and caught him just in time. Now Zoro was tilted backwards in Luffy's arm, the two staring into each other's eyes.

They laughed, leaned in, and kissed as a strange glow began to surround them . . .

* * *

Brook finished up the song and looked up. "Another round?" he called.

No response.

Brook shrugged and stowed away his violin, humming to himself.

"Nice," Usopp said, applauding as he came out onto the lawn. "Did they like it?"

Brook shrugged. "I can only assume so! Perhaps they left before the song ended?"

Usopp glanced up at the cliff. "Zoro? Luffy?"

No response. Usopp turned to Brook and shrugged. "Yeah, Luffy's so distracted, he probably ran off and Zoro followed him."

Brook chuckled. "That sounds right."

But then a face appeared at the top of the cliff. From that distance, it could have been either Zoro or Luffy.

"Oh, there you are!" Usopp called. "I think lunchtime's soon, come on down, you two!"

The face briefly retreated and then a huge figure leapt off of the cliff with a magnificent jump. Usopp and Brook shrieked and jumped away, clearing a space for the person to land. The ship rocked in the water with the impact.

And then the figure straightened up, looked around, and smiled.

"Lunchtime?" he said cheerfully. "Awesome, I'm starving."

"Who are you?" Usopp demanded.

The man turned to Usopp with a little frown. Usopp stared in shock.

"Luffy?" he said incredulously. "I mean—Zoro? I mean—what?!"

The man was even taller than Brook. His hair was big, fluffy, and went down to his shoulders, black on top and green underneath. His eyes were just like Luffy's, but slightly narrower, and the eyebrows were like Zoro's but rounder. Luffy's familiar eye scar and straw hat were present. Over his strong muscles, the man wore Luffy's red vest, mysteriously devoid of buttons, over Zoro's white T-shirt. Above the white shirt and under the red vest was the green _haramaki_. His legs bore black denim shorts, and Zoro's familiar ankle scars were clear under the shoes, which were sort of like a combination of sandals and boots.

"Keep it down," Nami called from her room, not bothering to come out.

"Who are you?!" Usopp cried nervously, staring at the huge figure in mingled fear and fascination.

"You look like Zoro- _san_ , but also like Luffy- _san_ ," Brook said slowly.

Usopp screamed. "A monster! A monster absorbed Luffy and Zoro and made them a part of him, and now it's gonna do the same to us!"

From the other side of the ship, Chopper screamed and a door slammed, indicating he'd run inside with fear.

Brook drew his sword and aimed it threateningly at the tall man's throat. "If you have truly eaten our friends, I will kindly ask you to regurgitate them and piss off," he said politely.

The man began laughing quietly, like Zoro's usual chuckle but somehow a bit more boisterous.

"Brook, Usopp, I'm not a monster," he said, still laughing. "C'mon, don't aim that thing at your friend!"

"Who are you?!" Usopp cried.

The man looked up in thought. "Zoro . . . no, Luffy . . ." he snapped his fingers and grinned, revealing Zoro's dimples in his cheeks. "Got it! I'm Zolu!"

"Zo . . . lu . . . what?"

"Well, this is kinda weird," Zolu said, scratching the back of his neck. His voice was similar in pitch to Sanji's. "See, I was—that is, Zoro and Luffy were dancing—and suddenly this happened!"

"Then . . . what's 'this'?" Brook asked, tilting his head.

"I guess we kinda mashed into one," Zolu said with a careless shrug. "It's pretty mysterious!"

He grinned again as Usopp stared in befuddlement.

"Hey, lunchtime!" Sanji yelled, poking his head out the kitchen door.

Zolu spotted him and grinned. "Alright! Cook, gimme food!"

Sanji stared at Zolu in utter confusion. "What the hell?"

"Wow, I'm so much taller than you," Zolu said in fascination, approaching Sanji and towering over him. "I could beat your ass to the ground, no problem!"

"You wanna say that again, moss-head?!" Sanji snarled. He blinked. "Er, I mean . . . Luffy . . . moss-head . . . who the hell are you?!"

"Um, Zo—Luf—Zolu, just explain when we're all at the table," Usopp suggested.

Zolu nodded. "Yeah, okay. Food!"

Sanji moved and Zolu crab-walked through the door.

* * *

Everyone stared at Zolu, the shocked silence only broken by his cheerful eating.

"How does this even—what?" Chopper said weakly. "You're so tall now . . ."

"I know, it's great," Zolu said, finishing off the second bowl of noodles. "Hey, cook, more!"

"Please tell me you two aren't going to stay like that forever," Sanji groaned. "You eat even worse than when you're just Luffy and moss-head . . . and I didn't think that was possible!"

"I've never even heard of this happening," Robin admitted, staring at Zolu with curiosity.

"Do you have Zoro's chest scar?" Nami asked curiously.

Zolu lifted up his shirt to reveal the familiar scar.

"Looks like all the scars stayed," he said as Sanji placed another bowl of noodles in front of him.

"I wonder if anyone can fuse like that," Franky mused. "Hey, Bro Usopp, we should totally try it sometime!"

Usopp looked very apprehensive. "I dunno . . . maybe . . ." He glanced at Zolu, who was now staring off into space. "So . . . are you two—are Zoro and Luffy, like, constantly making out in there, or . . ."

Zolu smiled and did not respond.

"They're making out in there," Usopp muttered.

"Someone spray him—them?—with a hose," Nami sighed.

Sanji turned up the sink nozzle and squirted Zolu in the face. Zolu cried out in indignation and scowled. "What was that for?!"

"No hanky-panky in _my_ kitchen," he snapped.

"You couldn't even see it," Zolu muttered.

"Not the point."

Zolu grinned, apparently letting the matter go. "Anyway, I feel way stronger now. I feel like I could take on all seven Warlords at once!"

"Really?" Chopper cried, his eyes sparkling.

Zolu nodded, smirking. "Really!"

"Are you made of rubber?" Brook asked.

Zolu frowned, reached up, and pulled on his cheek. It stretched out. "Yep, guess so. Wow, this feels weird . . ."

"Wait, so if you fought, would you punch or use swords?" Usopp demanded eagerly.

Zolu thought about it. "Swords . . . but I can think of some ways to use rubber to my advantage . . . wow, a fight would be real interesting like this."

Robin cleared her throat. "Is this permanent?"

Zolu stared at her. "Hm? I dunno, probably not." He frowned. "C'mon, I wanna stay like this for a bit longer . . ."

Robin shrugged. "Up to you, I suppose."

* * *

When lunch was finally over, Zolu could be found sitting on the railing, staring out into the sea.

"I wonder if I can swim now," he mused aloud. "No, better not risk it."

He smiled and spoke in a different voice, one distinctly closer to Luffy's. "I love this."

His voice changed again, this time closer to Zoro's. "Me too. I can feel . . . your love."

"Same . . . but it's _our_ love."  
"Yeah."  
"Hey."  
"Hm?"  
"How long do you want to stay like this?"  
"I don't know. How do we split this apart?"  
"We'll figure it out later. No . . ."

Zolu closed his eyes briefly and then opened them again. " _I'll_ figure it out later," he said, once more with his own voice.

"Zolu- _san_?"

Zolu looked up to see Brook approaching cautiously. "Is everything alright?"

Zolu grinned. "Just fine."

"Would you like some music?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Zolu said, hopping off the railing. Brook began playing and they went out to the lawn.

Zolu started dancing. He was dancing with Luffy's spins and Zoro's hips and arms, truly dancing with himself. He smiled and laughed as he did so. Usopp and Chopper came out to watch, smiling at the obvious enjoyment of their new very tall crewmate.

* * *

"Hey, Zolu!"

Zolu looked up to see Usopp approaching with fishing poles and smiling hopefully. "Do you . . . wanna fish?"

Zolu looked up in thought with a little frown, apparently internally conflicted. Usopp waited.

"Sure," Zolu said at last, smiling. Usopp grinned nervously and handed a pole to Zolu, who followed him to the railing. They sat side-by-side, cast their lines, and waited.

Usopp cleared his throat. "Zolu?"

"Hm?"

"What's it like, being—being you?"

"It's amazing," Zolu said after a moment. "I feel . . . love." He smiled. "A lot of love."

Usopp grinned. "That's . . . awesome. I was thinking . . . like . . . are you guys gonna split up? Can you even do that?"

"I'm sure we can," Zolu said. "But I'm myself right now, and I kinda wanna be like this for a little longer."

Usopp nodded and they went back to fishing.

Zolu's pole started quivering. He stood up on the railing and got a good strong grip on the pole, trying to reel in whatever monster was at the end.

But then his footing slipped, his grip loosened, and he was pulled into the ocean, the fishing pole gone with the monster's departure.

"Uh-oh," Usopp muttered as Zolu hit the water. For a moment he saw the huge shape of his crewmate just under the waves—but then there was a strange glowing light, and there were two smaller shapes—

And Zoro burst from the waves, holding Luffy, who spat out water and grinned sheepishly. Usopp ran, seized the rope ladder, and tossed it over the side. Zoro climbed up, holding Luffy, and they collapsed onto the deck, breathing hard. Luffy spat out the last bits of seawater from his lungs.

"You're . . . back?" Usopp said weakly.

Zoro started chuckling—his _own_ laugh—and Luffy laughed along with him.

"We're back," Luffy said cheerfully, sitting up. He and Zoro shared a hug and a kiss.

Usopp laughed nervously. "Wow . . . that whole thing was . . . wow."

"We should totally do that again, Zoro," Luffy said firmly.

Zoro nodded. "Being Zolu was . . . an experience, that's for sure."

They smiled at each other again.

"Hey, you wanna go dance?"

"Sure."


End file.
